• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.185-193
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• 2016

A novel proteolytic bacterium was isolated from soil at Yeungnam University, South Korea. The strain, named FBL-1, was rod-shaped with a smooth surface. Biolog and API 50CHB test results revealed that strain FBL-1 was a Bacillus species. Based on 16S rDNA sequencing and chemotaxonomic characterization, the strain was identified as Bacillus subtilis because it had the highest homology with Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis NCIB 3610 (99.5%). In liquid culture at 37℃ with shaking at 200 rpm, fructose and yeast extract were found to be the best carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, for cell growth and protease production. The highest protease activity (451.640 U/ml) was obtained when the strain was cultured in medium containing 20 g/l of fructose and 5 g/l of yeast extract. Although further studies are needed to characterize the protease and enhance its activity, the newly isolated protein-degrading B. subtilis FBL-1 can be applicable for the production of peptides and for the degradation of proteins in various industries.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2006

Feather, generated in large quantities as a byproduct of commercial poultry processing, is almost pure keratin, which is not easily degradable by common professes. Four strains, SMMJ-2, FL-3, NO-4 and RM-12 were isolated from soil for production of extracellular keratinolytic protease. They were identified as Bacillus sp. based on their morphological and physiological characteristics. They shown high protease activity on 5.0% skim milk agar medium and produced a substrate like mucoid on keratin agar medium. Bacillus sp. SMMJ-2 had a faster production time for producing keratinolytic protease than other strains. This strain did not completely degrade whole chicken feather for five days in basal medium but completely degraded whole chicken feather when supplied with nitrogen source for 40hours in keratinolytic producing medium ($0.7%\;K_{2}HPO_{4},\;0.2%\;KH_{2}PO_{4},\;0.1%$ fructose, 1.2% whole chicken feather, $0.01%\;Na_{2}CO_3$, pH 7.0). When supplied with chicken feather as nitrogen source, keratinolytic protease activity was 89 units/ml/min. When soybean meal was used as nitrogen source, the keratinolytic protease production reached a maximum of 106 units/ml/min after 48 hours under $30^{\circ}C$, 180 agitation. To isolate the keratinolytic protease, the culture filtrate was precipitated with $(NH_4)_{2}SO_4$ and acetone. The recovery rate of keratinolytic protease was about 96% after treatment with 50% acetone. The enzyme was stable in the range of $30{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ and pH $6.0{\sim}12.0$.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.323-328
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• 2006

A bacterium producing the extracellular protease was isolated from insect-eating plant and has been identified as a member of the genus Bacillus based on partial 165 rRNA sequences. In order to develop the medium composition, effects of ingredients including nitrogen sources, carbon source, metal ions and phosphate were examined for protease production of the isolate, SH-8. Soluble starch increased the protease productivity, while glucose repressed it. Yeast extract was effective nitrogen source for enzyme production, but the pretense production of Bacillus sp. SH-8 was reduced by large amount of yeast extract. The calcium was found to induce pretense activity as well as protease productivity. However, cell growth and enzyme production was completely inhibited by divalent ions such as $Zn^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$. The maximum protease productivity was reached 435 unit/ml in the optimized medium consisting of soluble starch (2%), yeast extract (0.3%), $CaCl_2$ (0.3%), $K_2HPO_4$ (0.01%) and $KH_2PO_4$ (0.01%). The pretense activity of culture filtrate was dramatically decreased after incubation for 26 h.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.213-218
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• 1998

A bacterium with potent activity of pigment production and protease was isolated and identified as being Bacillus sp. CS-17. Cell growth, protease activity and pigment production of the strain reached to its maximum point after 24 hrs, 48 hrs, 72 hrs, respectively. The best pigment producing ability of Bacillus sp. CS-17 was shown on basal medium for pigment production added 1.0% soybean. The high effcient conditions for pigment production was obtained at culture of pH 8.5, $37^{\circ}C$ and 72 hours. Among the tested 5 gram positive strains and 6 gram negative strains, weak antibacterial activity of pigment concentrated extracts was appeared against growth of B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa, S. typhimurium, E. aerogenes, B. cereus, A. hydrophila.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.430-434
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• 2004

Three extracellular protease-deficient Bacillus subtilis strains were transformed with the plasmid pCK98 containing the endo-$\beta$-1,4-glucanase (Eng) gene of B. subtilis BSE616. The three transformants, B. subtilis DB104 (pCK98), WB600 (pCK98) and WB700 (pCK98), produced the same high level of enzyme activity and showed similar patterns of cell growth and enzyme production. When B. subtilis DB 104 (pCK98), a two-extracellular protease deficient strain, was cultured for 22 h, almost all the secreted enzyme was found to be in the completely cleaved form by both activity staining and Western blotting studies. B. subtilis WB600 (pCK98), a six-extracellular protease-deficient strain, produced a partially cleaved form in addition to the intact form of the enzyme, although the degree of internal cleavage of the enzyme was greatly reduced. With B. subtilis WB700 (pCK98), a seven-extracellular protease-deficient strain, almost all the enzyme was produced as the intact uncleaved form. This study illustrates that a role of the V pr protease is to degrade foreign proteins produced in B. subtilis and WB700 is a suitable expression system for producing the intact form of the Eng and other foreign proteins that may lose at least part of their efficacy due to internal proteolytic cleavage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.498-503
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• 1999

Protease produced from Bacillus sp. FSE-68 was isolated from Meju, a Korean fermented soybean starter, and was purified by a two-consecutive aqueous two-phase system. The change of partition coefficient (K) in the polyethylene glycol (PEG)/potassium phosphate buffer (PPB) aqueous two-phase system was measured at different pHs (6.0- 9.2), PPB concentrations (8-12%), and temperatures (4 and $20^{\circ}C$). As the PPB concentration in the aqueous two-phase system increased, the protease concentration in the top phase (PEG-rich phase) increased, thereby enhancing the partition coefficient. The minimum partition coefficient of the protease was achieved at pH 7.0, whereas that of the total protein was at pH 6.0. The biggest difference in partition coefficients of total protein and protease occurred at pH 6.0. It was interesting to note that the partition coefficient of protease decreased as the temperature increased. The optimum condition of the primary aqueous two-phase extraction of Bacillus sp. FSE-68 was pH 6.0, 14% (w/w) PPB, and 16% (w/w) PEG at $4^{\circ}C$, and the crude enzyme concentration in this system was 50% (w/w). The protease, which was concentrated in the top phase, was further mixed with 15% (w/w) PPB (pH 7.0) in the ratio of 1:1 at $20^{\circ}C$ to elute the bottom phase (PPB-rich phase). Using these steps, the purification fold achieved was 9.2 with a 44.7% yield.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.201-212
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• 2011

The alkaline protease gene was cloned from a halo-tolerant alkalophilic Bacillus clausii I-52 isolated from the heavily polluted tidal mud flat of West Sea in Inchon Korea, which produced a strong extracellular alkaline protease (BCAP). Based on the full genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis, PCR primers were designed to allow for the amplification and cloning of the intact pro-BCAP gene including promoter region. The full-length gene consists of 1,143 bp and encodes 381 amino acids, which includes 29 residues of a putative signal peptide and an additional 77-amino-acid propeptide at its N-terminus. The mature BCAP deduced from the nucleotide sequence consists of 275 amino acids with a N-terminal amino acid of Ala, and a relative molecular weight and pI value was 27698.7 Da and 6.3, respectively. The amino acid sequence shares the highest similarity (99%) to the nattokinase precursor from B. subtilis and subtilisin E precursor from B. subtilis BSn5. The substrate specificity indicated that the recombinant BCAP could hydrolyze efficiently the synthetic substrate, N-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNA,and did not hydrolyze the substrates with basic amino acids at the P1 site. The recombinant BCAP was strongly inhibited by typical serine protease inhibitor, PMSF, indicating that BCAP is a member of the serine proteases.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.402-408
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• 2007

A strain producing a potent protease was isolated from turban shell. The strain was identified as Bacillus sp. S17110 based on phylogenetic analysis. The enzyme was purified from culture supernatant of Bacillus sp. S17110 to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, SP-Sepharose, and DEAE-Sepharose anion exchange chromatography. Protease activity of the purified protein against casein was found to be stable at pH 7 to pH 10 and around $50^{\circ}C$. Approximately 70% of proteolytic activity of the enzyme was detected either in the presence of 100 mM SDS or Tween 20. The enzyme activity was enhanced in the presence of $Ca^{2+},\;Zn^{2+},\;Mg^{2+}$, but was inhibited by EDTA, indicating that it requires metal for its activity. The purified enzyme was found to be a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 75 kDa, as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and gel filtration chromatography. The purified enzyme was analyzed through peptide fingerprint mass spectra generated from matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and a BLAST search, and identified as immune inhibitor A (inhA) deduced from nucleotide sequence of B. cereus G9241. Since InhA was identified as protease that cleave antibacterial proteins found in insect, inhA-like protease purified from Bacillus sp. S17110 might be pathogenic to sea invertebrates.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.207-211
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• 1997

Media optimization for the production of thermostable protease specifically hydrolyzing defatted soybean meal (DSM) from Bacillus licheniformis NS70 was performed by two methods, one-at-a-time method and response surface methodology (RSM). The best carbon source and nitrogen source for the protease production were lactose and DSM, respectively. The maximum protease production estimated by RSM was 606 U/L at 1.11% lactose and 0.43% DSM, the value of which was nearly consistent to the experimental value of 599 U/L. Yeast extract suppressed the protease production. The medium pH was slightly increased at the beginning stage of fermentation, and it tended to decrease after 8 hours. The optimal pH for the protease production was 7.2 in the batch fermentation.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 1990

Alkalophilic bacteria isolated from compost were selected, identified and tested for production of alkaline protease. The bacterium was tentatively assigned to Bacillus sp. based on the morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. The optimum pH of growth was 10 Galactose and Sodium glutamate enhanced the production of alkaline protease. The protease was most active at pH 11.0 and $60^{\circ}C$ and stable in the range of pH 5-11 and temp. $30^{\circ}-55^{\circ}C$. The protease was stabilized by the presence of calcium salts.